HOW THE GRINCH STOLE THE BOX OFFICE

Jim Carrey's live-action remake of Dr. Seuss' How The Grinch Stole Christmas debuted at the top of the box office over the weekend with an estimated gross of $55.1 million, the biggest non-sequel opening in history. The impressive haul marked a career best for Carrey as well as director

Ron Howard. Rugrats in Paris: The Movie opened at No. 2 with an animated $23.0 million gross, followed by Charlie's Angels, which fell to No. 3 with $13.7 million after two weekends at No. 1. Rounding out the top five: Arnold Schwarzenegger's The 6th Day at No. 4 with $13.2 million (Oh, how the mighty have fallen) and Ben Affleck and Gwyneth Paltrow's romantic drama Bounce at No. 5 ($11.5 million). Speaking of flop sweat, Adam Sandler's satanic comedy, Little Nicky, plunged 52 percent in its second weekend, grossing $7.7 million (bad enough for seventh place), and Val Kilmer's sci-fi dud, Red Planet, slid 69 percent to crash at No. 10 with $2.7 million.